Thursday, April 19, 2012 - DT 26779

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26779
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, February 3, 2012
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26779]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I got off to a slow start, but once I had found a foothold I was able to progress steadily - although not necessarily rapidly.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a   Allow no entry to wicked fellow who’s from West Indian island? (9)

Ian Hislop^[7] (whose photo Gazza has chosen to illustrate this clue) is a British journalist, satirist, comedian, writer, broadcaster and editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye. He has appeared on many radio and television programmes, most notably as a team captain on the BBC current affairs satirical quiz Have I Got News for You.

9a   Put down some words about hospital and feel acute embarrassment (6)

This is a new meaning of the word for me, but to writhe (in/with/at)^[5] is to respond with great emotional or physical discomfort to (an intense or unpleasant feeling or thought) • she bit her lip, writhing in suppressed fury. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as merely "to suffer acutely"^[3] while Collins English Dictionary has it as a bit more fully as "to suffer acutely from embarrassment, revulsion, etc."^[4].

13a   Soldiers coming to wood, a testing experience (6)

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks (abbreviation OR)^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers. Deal^[4] may be (1) a plank of softwood timber, such as fir or pine, or such planks collectively or (2) the sawn wood of various coniferous trees, such as that from the Scots pine (red deal) or from the Norway Spruce (white deal). I had thought that this might be a British expression but this meaning also appears in The American Heritage Dictionary.

19a   Somewhere of archaeological significance is place in list (7)

In Britain, a rota^[5] is a list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job • a cleaning rota.

21a   Face the wrong way and sleep (3)

Yet another new meaning to me (as it was to Gazza), but Oxford Dictionaries online defines pan^[5] as an informal US term for a person's face.

29a   Religious type in party skirt attending first half of dance (9)

It would seem that Gazza had illustrated this clue with a picture of cancan dancers. Unfortunately the webpage to which he linked no longer exists and all that remains is an extra blank line in his review (at least that is what I see in my Firefox browser).

2d   A boast? Get away! (6)

Avaunt^[5] is an archaic exclamation meaning go away • avaunt, you worm-faced fellows of the night!

5d   Town to surrender when leader’s been got rid of (7)

Andover^[7] is a town in the English county of Hampshire. It is located on the River Anton some 25 miles (40 km) north of the port city of Southampton.

14d   Air created by female American actors (9)

The setter uses "female American" in the clue to let his British audience know that the term which he is employing in the solution, namely broad^[5], is an informal North American term for a woman.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon